IMDb:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162397/IN THE DOG HOUSE was Andy Clyde's 2nd Columbia short, following the unavailable short IT'S THE CATS. Until today, I never knew that Vivien Oakland appeared in Columbia shorts, but here she is as Andy's wife, Tallulah. Look up Tallulah Bankhead to see who likely influenced the choice of this name for Vivien's character.
This short has some struggles for sure, especially given the extremely poor quality of the print. The premise is this: Andy is married to Tallulah, but he hid from her that he was a widower with an orphaned grandson. Tallulah hates the kid's guts and wants to send him back to the orphanage, and Andy naturally objects. The kid gets revenge though.
I never thought I'd see a Columbia short, or any old comedy for that matter, where the child plays a significant role without being a little terrorist, but Delmar Watson as Jimmy Clyde does just that. This short has a complete plot that moves along, but the laughs are few. It's hard to laugh when it's basically the original Cruella DeVille versus the 101 Dalmatians (I just gave a fine estimate of my age) in this short. There are many laughs, but the groans (albeit fewer in number) take up much more time.
The laughs: Vivien with the poker attacking everyone, Chuck Callahan as the sarcastic dog-catcher, Vivien taking a pie in the kisser, Delmar punching Andy, the breakfast scene, and the chloroform.
The groans: the entire plot, the rear-projection/driving scene (recognize some of those clips and/or places from other shorts?).
5/10